Page 1: Set Overview and Disc 1 Shorts Page 2: Disc 2 Shorts, Video & Audio, Bonus Features, and Closing Thoughts |
DISC 2 As is customary, Leonard Maltin returns for an automatically-played introduction on Disc 2. His focus falls upon the more recent shorts of the set, which makes sense as they appear on Disc 2. Again, he points out some highlights of this disc -- the films they originally played with, the awards they won, and so on -- and how cool it is they are compiled together now on DVD. One mention Leonard makes seems to suggest that there will be an excerpt of a "Disneyland" anthology episode ("The Titlemakers") on the stop-motion used for The Parent Trap's opening titles (and a few of the Disc 2 shorts). Oddly, it is not actually included on the disc (though the episode can be found in full on the original Parent Trap's two DVD appearances), but there is brief talk of it in the lone commentary, so perhaps that's all he meant. Disc 2 holds 13 cartoons, which are again offered in alphabetical and chronological listings in addition to the "Play All" option that I rarely find use for.
THE SHORTS
Pigs is Pigs (1954) (9:43)
Social Lion (1954) (6:49)
Hooked Bear (1956) (6:16)
Jack and Old Mac (1956) (7:00)
In the Bag (1956) (7:34)
A Cowboy Needs a Horse (1956) (6:54)
The Story of Anyburg, U.S.A. (1957) (10:29)
Most of the more modern cartoons look quite a bit better. At their best, print flaws and intrusions are almost nonexistent and are minor enough to enable carefree viewing. Some of them aren't as crisp as one would like and marked by mild cases of moiré. Even the finest-looking shorts aren't quite as pristine as the drastically-restored Platinum Edition feature-length films, but they are clearly treated better than elsewhere as either standalone extras or in budget compilation series like Timeless Tales and Classic Cartoon Favorites. Unfortunately, not all fare so well. The element on Goliath II is quite dirty, and the short is subjected to color fluctuations. The charming stop-motion piece Noah's Ark is consistently littered with artifacts, which may be more inherent to its media but doesn't make its appearance much less disappointing. As far as I can tell, all of the films appear in their original theatrical aspect ratios. One has come to expect such faithful presentation from Leonard Maltin and the Treasures line. Therefore, it can be deduced that the majority of shorts (the Alice comedies' minor variation aside) were created in the Academy Ratio (1.37:1) and the close-enough 1.33:1 fullscreen presentation is as it should be. A handful of the films, however, were created in the Cinemascope widescreen format. These are the Humphrey shorts Hooked Bear and In the Bag plus Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom, all from the early-to-mid '50s (when Disney began experimenting with wider framing for live action subjects and Lady and the Tramp). Unfortunately, this trio has not been enhanced for widescreen televisions the way the few widescreen shorts on past Treasures DVDs (the three post-Walt Mickey shorts on Living Color, Volume Two are all that come to mind) have been. Accordingly, none of these three look as good as they should, since anywhere from 20 - 42% of the possible DVD resolution has gone to black bars that should have been player-generated. A close look reveals a few oddities; the Humphrey shorts actually measure between 1.95:1 and 2.05:1, while Toot, Whistle... comes in at 2.25:1. While framing seemed consistently good, what I know about Cinemascope tells me the Humphrey shorts should be quite a bit wider. The sometimes-helpful Internet Movie Database lists the aspect ratios for all three as 2.35:1. Meanwhile, incomplete headlines in Anyburg, U.S.A. suggest that this 1957 short may be cropped to some degree as well. None of this amounts to anything worth getting really riled up about, but I'd hope that efforts have been taken here to present these shorts as accurately as possible. Such has been the case in the past, but let's not hope those producing these discs have gotten sloppy in the mastering process. There's less to say (and complain) about the solid audio presentation. Everything is encoded in two-channel Dolby Digital and most of it would appear to be monaural in nature, but the few shorts created in stereo are faithfully reproduced as such here. None of this ever approaches the design or impact of a modern cartoon (perhaps the surround-encoded menu music makes the biggest splash), but no sane soul demands such a thing from rare, vintage Disney shorts. One thing worth mentioning is that since the Alice comedies were originally silent, the fidelity and crispness of the recordings inform us the soundtracks are brand new, but the style of the music very much could be from the 1920s. Certain sound effects are punctuated musically or with what sound like foley effects. I'm not sure if there was a written score, enlightening script, or old recordings to go by, or if the producers merely winged it, but the design seems tactful and appropriate. At least what is here is quite excellent. First up, on Disc 1, is "Alice's Cartoon World: An Interview with Virginia Davis" (11:30) which finds Leonard Maltin leading an enthusiastic interview with the lady who portrayed the little girl Alice in Walt's silent comedies beginning more than 80 years ago. Surprisingly, Davis is quite lively and still bears some resemblance to the pint-sized protagonist who was qualified as "Walt's first star." She recalls the low-budget production of the 1920s shorts and working with Walt Disney, who often filmed at her house and didn't have enough money for retakes. She also discusses watching the films now, her favorite of the shorts (Alice's Wild West Show), and perhaps most interestingly, what separated her from Disney and prevented her from nearly becoming both the speaking voice and reference model for Snow White: a raw salary deal and demanding contract stipulations. Needless to say, it's a fascinating retrospective. Next up is "From Kansas City to Hollywood: A Timeline of Disney's Silent Era" (8:25), a simple but very good featurette on Walt's journey into the movie industry. Leonard Maltin narrates to stills and silent footage, covering Disney's humble beginnings at a Kansas City ad agency, the modernized fairy tales he dubbed Laugh-o-Grams, how a dentist saved his career, the 56 silent Alice comedies he made, the formation of the Disney Brothers Studio, his move towards pure animation, and finally, Mickey Mouse and the discovery of synchronized sound. From the title alone, I assumed this would be a series of text screens, so even if this ultimately has the same effect, its presentation was better than expected. |
